Next generation network monitoring architecture

ABSTRACT

A stream processing system in a first zone of a telecommunication network may obtain at least one policy for processing trace data of virtual network functions (VNFs) in the first zone, and obtain the trace data of the VNFs from a data distribution platform of the telecommunication network, where the trace data is published in accordance with a topic to the data distribution platform by the VNFs, and where the stream processing system comprises a subscriber to the topic. The first stream processing system may additionally forward at least a first portion of the trace data to a second stream processing system of the telecommunication network in accordance with the at least one policy, where the first portion comprises less than all of the trace data, and where the second stream processing system is for a region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and a second zone.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/556,915, filed on Dec. 20, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,616,713, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/943,953, filed on Jul. 30, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,206,205, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to network probing, and more particularly to methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for processing trace data of virtual network functions of a telecommunication network via a plurality of stream processing systems.

BACKGROUND

Probing and troubleshooting in telecommunication networks are currently monolithic, inflexible, and closed. A network service provider may invest in building a parallel passive probe infrastructure to monitor network functions, yet current infrastructure does not scale well. Current probe infrastructure may consume a significant fraction of cellular core network resources (e.g., up to 30 percent or more for virtualized networks). In addition, with next generation cellular networks entering deployment, the amount of network data on control plane is anticipated to increase tenfold. However only a fraction of such data may ever be used by network operations personnel or automated systems. Furthermore, it may be beneficial to monitor the network traffic in real time, but real time monitoring further increases the complexity and computational cost for the network service provider.

SUMMARY

Methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for processing trace data of virtual network functions of a telecommunication network via a plurality of stream processing systems are described. For instance, in one example, a first stream processing system including at least one processor 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: obtaining, by a first stream processing system in a first zone of a telecommunication network, at least one policy for processing trace data of a plurality of virtual network functions in the first zone; obtaining, by the first stream processing system, the trace data of the plurality of virtual network functions in the first zone, wherein the trace data is obtained from a data distribution platform of the telecommunication network, wherein the trace data is published in accordance with a topic to the data distribution platform by the plurality of virtual network functions, and wherein the first stream processing system comprises a subscriber to the topic; forwarding, by the first stream processing system, at least a first portion of the trace data to a second stream processing system of the telecommunication network in accordance with the at least one policy, wherein the at least the first portion comprises less than all of the trace data, and wherein the second stream processing system is for a region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and at least a second zone, wherein the first stream processing system and the second stream processing system are components of a network probe infrastructure of the telecommunication network, wherein the network probe infrastructure comprises a hierarchy that includes a plurality of zones, the plurality of zones including the first zone and the second zone, wherein each of the plurality of zones includes a different one of a plurality of stream processing systems, wherein each of the plurality of zones is assigned to one of a plurality of regions, the plurality of regions including the region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and the at least the second zone, wherein the network probe infrastructure further includes at least one data storage system, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is stored in the at least one data storage system, wherein the network probe infrastructure provides access to the at least the first portion of the trace data to at least one client application, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is accessible to the at least one client application via a structured streaming query; and processing, by the first stream processing system, at least a portion of the structured streaming query, wherein the processing includes providing at least a second portion of the trace data to the at least one client application.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the trace data comprises at least one of: events; logs; packet copies; or performance indicators.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one policy is obtained from a probe configuration service element of the telecommunication network.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a first virtual network function of the plurality of virtual network functions provides a packet mirroring function.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one policy comprises a selection policy to forward the trace data associated with: a specific user equipment identifier; or a plurality of user equipment identifiers.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is associated with the specific user equipment identifier or the plurality of user equipment identifiers.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one policy comprises a sampling policy, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is selected in accordance with the sampling policy.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one policy comprises a tagging policy, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is tagged with at least one tag in accordance with the tagging policy.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second stream processing system processes the at least the first portion of the trace data in accordance with the at least one tag.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: processing the trace data in accordance with the at least one policy, wherein the processing includes generating at least one performance indicator stream from the trace data.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: adding the at least one performance indicator stream to the trace data, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data that is forwarded to the second stream processing system includes the at least one performance indicator stream.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: processing the trace data in accordance with the at least one policy, wherein the processing includes aggregating at least one aspect of the trace data to generate aggregate data.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: adding the aggregate data to the trace data, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data that is forwarded to the second stream processing system includes the aggregate data.
 14. An apparatus comprising: a first stream processing system including at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the first stream processing system when deployed in a first zone of a telecommunication network, cause the first stream processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining at least one policy for processing trace data of a plurality of virtual network functions in the first zone; obtaining the trace data of the plurality of virtual network functions in the first zone, wherein the trace data is obtained from a data distribution platform of the telecommunication network, wherein the trace data is published in accordance with a topic to the data distribution platform by the plurality of virtual network functions, and wherein the first stream processing system comprises a subscriber to the topic; forwarding at least a first portion of the trace data to a second stream processing system of the telecommunication network in accordance with the at least one policy, wherein the at least the first portion comprises less than all of the trace data, and wherein the second stream processing system is for a region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and at least a second zone, wherein the first stream processing system and the second stream processing system are components of a network probe infrastructure of the telecommunication network, wherein the network probe infrastructure comprises a hierarchy that includes a plurality of zones, the plurality of zones including the first zone and the second zone, wherein each of the plurality of zones includes a different one of a plurality of stream processing systems, wherein each of the plurality of zones is assigned to one of a plurality of regions, the plurality of regions including the region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and the at least the second zone, wherein the network probe infrastructure further includes at least one data storage system, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is stored in the at least one data storage system, wherein the network probe infrastructure provides access to the at least the first portion of the trace data to at least one client application, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is accessible to the at least one client application via a structured streaming query; and processing at least a portion of the structured streaming query, wherein the processing includes providing at least a second portion of the trace data to the at least one client application.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a first stream processing system including at least one processor when deployed in a first zone of a telecommunication network, cause the first stream processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining at least one policy for processing trace data of a plurality of virtual network functions in the first zone; obtaining the trace data of the plurality of virtual network functions in the first zone, wherein the trace data is obtained from a data distribution platform of the telecommunication network, wherein the trace data is published in accordance with a topic to the data distribution platform by the plurality of virtual network functions, and wherein the first stream processing system comprises a subscriber to the topic; forwarding at least a first portion of the trace data to a second stream processing system of the telecommunication network in accordance with the at least one policy, wherein the at least the first portion comprises less than all of the trace data, and wherein the second stream processing system is for a region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and at least a second zone, wherein the first stream processing system and the second stream processing system are components of a network probe infrastructure of the telecommunication network, wherein the network probe infrastructure comprises a hierarchy that includes a plurality of zones, the plurality of zones including the first zone and the second zone, wherein each of the plurality of zones includes a different one of a plurality of stream processing systems, wherein each of the plurality of zones is assigned to one of a plurality of regions, the plurality of regions including the region of the telecommunication network that includes the first zone and the at least the second zone, wherein the network probe infrastructure further includes at least one data storage system, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is stored in the at least one data storage system, wherein the network probe infrastructure provides access to the at least the first portion of the trace data to at least one client application, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is accessible to the at least one client application via a structured streaming query; and processing at least a portion of the structured streaming query, wherein the processing includes providing at least a second portion of the trace data to the at least one client application.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the trace data comprises at least one of: events; logs; packet copies; or performance indicators.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one policy is obtained from a probe configuration service element of the telecommunication network.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein at least a first virtual network function of the plurality of virtual network functions provides a packet mirroring function.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one policy comprises a selection policy to forward the trace data associated with: a specific user equipment identifier; or a plurality of user equipment identifiers.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the at least the first portion of the trace data is associated with the specific user equipment identifier or the plurality of user equipment identifiers. 